Eastside, Santa Fe Both Look For First Football Wins Friday

Eastside High School squares off against Santa Fe this Friday at Citizen’s Field in Gainesville as both teams look for their first wins of the year.

The Eastside Rams start the season 0-2 after facing two large and very talented teams, Buchholz and Newberry.  This is head coach Cedderick Daniels’ first season with the Rams after serving as an assistant coach at Gainesville High School for seven years.

Daniels is trying to bring his philosophies and coaching style to the Eastside team.  Part of that philosophy starts with how his team reacts to challenges, including these first two losses.  Coach Daniels wants his team to recognize that improvement comes from adversity.  That is why he rescheduled their game against Newberry after it was cancelled due to weather last Friday night.  He wanted his team to have the chance to compete against a tough team.  Eastside’s team is relatively young, but they have a chance to be competitive against the rest of the teams on their schedule. Although the team has had a rough start, Daniels believes his team has the right attitude to make it to the post season.

Santa Fe starts the season 0-1 after not making up a game that was cancelled last Friday night.   There are a few similarities between the Raiders and the Rams.   The Raiders also have a new coach in Cliff Harrell, who replaced Bill Wiles who moved to Trenton High School.  Harrell also has a young team trying to learn his offense and defense and his coaching style.  Harrell runs a triple option offense and sees potential in his running game.  The Raiders only scored six points in a 22-6 loss to Newberry in Week 1 but Harrell believes his team’s effort can outshine mistakes.

The Rams and Saints kick off Friday at 7:30 at Citizen’s Field.